The invention is directed to a method for manufacturing a cable, whereby the individual leads are supplied to a stranding means that generates a stranded bundle, whereby the material for the cable cladding is applied onto the stranded bundle manufactured in this way with an extruder head, and the stranding point for the stranding lies in the region of the extruder head.
DE-A1 35 09 404 discloses a method of this species. The material for the cable cladding is thereby only applied onto the completely stranded bundle, so that there is an intermediate region wherein the stranded bundle as a whole is guided in a cylindrical guide sleeve. On the one hand, this structure lengthens the axial expanse of the extruder head and is less advantageous for various applications due to the subsequent application of the cladding material onto the stranded bundle.
The invention is based on the object of disclosing a way how the application of the cladding material can be more beneficially implemented. This object is achieved in a method of the species initially cited in that the individual leads are already brought into contact with the material for the cable cladding when or before they have been completely stranded to form the stranded bundle.
Since the individual leads are already brought into contact with the cladding material at the moment of their convergence or in the not yet completely stranded condition, this material can penetrate better into grooves and gaps, at least in the outside layer, and fix the leads. Further, the connection between cladding material on the one hand and the outside contour of the stranded bundle on the other hand is firmer in this way, so that the adhesion opposing a potential unraveling can be improved. The structural length of the manufacturing line (composed of stranding machine and cladding system) can generally also be reduced in this way because the leads need not first be merged completely into the bundle and the application of the cladding material is then subsequently undertaken at a greater distance; rather the stranding is directly integrated into the cladding machine.
The invention is also directed to an apparatus for manufacturing a cable with a stranding means to which individual leads are supplied for forming a stranded bundle, and whereby an extruder head is provided for application of a material for the cable cladding. This apparatus is characterized in that the individual leads are guided such in the inside of the extruder head that they come into contact with the material for the cable cladding when or before they are completely stranded to form the stranded bundle.
Developments of the invention are reflected in subclaims.